Pray for Predators
by VIKAN
Summary: The island is on fire and mortality is negotiated. Or, in which a crewmate falls inexplicably ill and their strange predicament makes it all the more difficult to manage.
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The island is on fire.

Not just part of it – no, no. The _entire_ island is alight in flames. A wicked blur of lashing reds and oranges. A part of her doesn't believe it when she first sees it, and for the briefest of seconds she thinks the sun fell into the ocean.

It looks like a large funeral pyre floating in the rust colored sea. The smoke soars above it like a large, black crow. Overhead, the sky is polluted with the grey contamination, giving it the unmistakable look of an approaching storm.

In bitter hindsight, she should have known that those weren't storm clouds the moment she saw them. The texture was wrong and the consistency was completely unnatural, but the log pose had pointed them east so east they sailed, storms be damned.

The _Merry_ is a good distance away from the blazing land, but she can distinctly taste the acidity of those flames from her spot on deck. It makes her blood chill for a transitory moment, a strange and distant sense of suppressed nostalgia floating over her, memories of something she doesn't recall playing over in her mind . . .

It's dispersed when Luffy says, " _Wow_ , a fire island! Look, look! It's a fire island! I wonder if fire people live there? Oh! Do you think _dragons_ live there? Oh! _Oh_! Maybe the fire people eat the dragons! I wonder if dragon meat taste good."

Nami blinks a few times; blinking the smoke away from her eyes but also to settle back into the present. She's been staring at the island for so long she felt like she was suspended in time, and with each one those distracted seconds they were slowly approaching the perishing land. She holds the rails tighter.

" _Ehhhhhhh_? _Fire_ Island!? D-D-D- _Dragons!_?" She can't see Usopp from her spot, but she can just imagine his frightened face, his bulging eyes, his gaping mouth. Chopper is probably mimicking the same expression from somewhere close, too.

Nami rolls her eyes. "Idiots," she mumbles, then louder, "There's no such thing as a fire island. It's an island that was _set_ on fire."

Which is all the more disturbing. She would have preferred Luffy's unrealistic imagination instead of this macabre scene.

She shouts a quick command to Sanji and Zoro to throw over the anchor and halt the ship's movement. She doesn't want to get any closer to the island than they already are. The weather is uncomfortably warm but every time she glances at the burning land she feels a shiver running down her legs.

Robin is beside her, her head tilted. She says quietly, "I wonder. What possible reason could entice the locals to burn down their island?"

The thoughtfulness of her voice makes Nami shudder. She doesn't know what kind of situation would push people to burn down their home, but she knows it cannot possibly be a good one. The cackling of the flames sounds like crude laughter to her, like the island had duped them and was basking in the success of their jibe.

Nami crosses her arms over the rails. "Who knows. What makes you think it was intentionally burned down, anyways? Maybe it was attacked."

A flicker of expression blinks across Robin's face, so minuscule that Nami thinks that perhaps it was just her imagination. But it's gone as quickly as it came, and Robin replies, "Maybe it was."

The island spills more smoke into the air, the blue of the sky fading away. The sun is near impossible to find in the grey sky, the flames replacing it as the only source of light. They are a few miles away from the island, but the thickness of the smoke already manages to meet them. Chopper has Zoro's bandana over his mouth and nose, and Nami winces in sympathy, knowing his heightened sense of smell is giving him unwanted pain. She just hopes Zoro washed that thing before giving it to the reindeer.

The whole crew is outside, watching with confusion and awe. The burning island is mesmerizing in an unexplainable way and Nami feels like she could stand on deck for hours watching it, but the stench is so horrible and her eyes are watering so badly she knows it would be better to get out of the open.

Zoro vocalizes her thoughts before she can; "We should go inside."

He's already pulling Luffy from his seat on the figurehead, the Captain's expression displeased. Luffy's eyes are red and his face pinched, the change of atmosphere already affecting him. Zoro walks toward the galley, Sanji, Chopper, and Usopp at his tail. Luffy is whining that he wants to stay outside to look at the fire island some more, wants to wait until the dragons come out so he can catch one, but Zoro ignores him effortlessly and pushes him through the door.

The island continues to burn. Nami puffs a cheek, annoyed. "Great. There goes _that_. I was really looking forward to a warm welcome from this island, like the one we got at Whisky Peak. I could really use like a nice resort or a spa or _something_ – just to relax a bit, you know?"

Robin giggles. "Oh, I would think we've gotten the warm welcome part covered."

The flames stretch higher to the sky, dancing to the beat of their cracks. The smoke is like ink to the sky, its deep contrast reflecting off the ocean's surface, as if it contaminates everything it touches.

"It's quite beautiful," Robin muses out loud. "Like the prelude to an impending catastrophe."

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"There is _no_ way we're docking there," Usopp says later, his tone confidently adamant. He crosses his arms and nods his head firmly. "You hear? Captain's orders."

They sit around the table at the galley with the overhead lamp swinging to the motion of the ship. Sanji is standing over the stove, one hand over something sizzling, the other over something boiling.

Nami knocks Usopp over the head. "You aren't the captain," she tells him. "And no one said anything about docking."

 _No one said anything about anything,_ she realizes. The silence of the galley is as near suffocating as the smoke outside. The strangeness of the situation has covered them all with unease. _Everyone is on edge,_ she thinks, chewing her thumbnail. _Or maybe it's just me?_ The tension is so thick and heavy Nami feels weighed down by it.

Luffy rests his cheek on the table, his legs swinging under his seat. "I don't like not moving. It's _booooooooring_ ," he whines. His eyes continuously jump to Sanji, the impatience for food most likely being _his_ source of unease. " _Boring_."

Zoro is sitting across him, his face bland and undisturbed. He meets Nami's eyes and jerks his chin toward her wrist. "How long?"

She picks up her hand, inspecting the log pose. "Not sure. Judging by the size of the island, I'd say we have at most three days until it resets, but it could be shorter. We can sail away from the island if the smoke gets too bothersome, but I'd rather avoid that, just in case something throws us off course. Our best bet is to just sit still and wait for the log to reset."

Her words are absorbed with frowns and groans. "So, in a matter of speaking," Robin says from next to her. "We are dead in the water for the next three days." More groans follow.

The ship sways thickly. The ocean here feels like it's made of honey, rocking back and forth slowly and heavily. The anchor managed to land on some seabed down below, but the chain has been unwound to its limit, leaving _Going_ _Merry_ immobilized like a dog at the end of its leash. _Dead in the water._ Nami wrinkles her nose. _There better not be any vultures around here._

"This is _stuuuuuuupid_ ," Luffy moans. He swings a leg with every word, occasionally hitting Zoro. "Doing nothing for three days? Boring. _Boring_!"

Nami rolls her eyes. She's been doing that a lot lately. "You're the one who wanted to follow the log pose as soon as possible. You don't have a right to complain." She looks at the still red needle, the thing nothing but a fancy bracelet at this point.

"But I wanted adventure! Not _waiting."_ He gives his leg a wider swing and Zoro starts from his seat. The swordsman glares, reaches down and violently yanks Luffy under the table. She ignores Zoro's snapping – "Kick me one more time and I'm cutting off your legs!" – and Luffy's less than apologetic snickering – "Sorry, sorry!" – in favor of watching Sanji move from one counter to another in almost rhythmic steps.

She sighs deeply, balancing her chin on the heel of her palm. She's loath to admit it, but the prospect of sitting still and doing nothing for the next couple of days doesn't sound very appealing to her. _Sanji-kun probably won't mind_ – he's at his element when he's in his kitchen, regardless of whether the ship is moving or not. He can make due, and not being hindered by manhandling the ship can give him even more time to enjoy himself.

Luffy might be a problem, and by extension so will Usopp and Chopper. When those three are bored, everyone else suffers. Their whining reaches new highs, their pranks become more unbearable, and their games become more obnoxious. As long as she stays out of their sight, she could survive.

Robin and Zoro are the two people she's least concerned about – no, more precisely, they're the two people that are probably the least concerned about their predicament. Robin is always able to pass the time with a good book, unbothered and near invisible to her surroundings, and Zoro doesn't care about anything if it doesn't directly involve him. He'll probably spend the next few days sleeping or training.

Oil from one of Sanji's pans pops loudly, startling Usopp. Luffy clambers back to his seat beside him and takes back his pitiful position. His pout is more animated now, and he chants, "Boring, boring, boring. Can't have adventures like this. Maybe there's adventure on the island . . . ?"

"We're _not_ docking!" She and Usopp snap in unison, although Usopp's voice is much higher and shriller than hers.

Luffy laughs. Pans and pots tap and clink against each other, drawers are pulled, and cabinets open and close, filling the silence comfortably. Obviously – _obviously –_ it doesn't last for long.

"What if it _was_ a monster?" Chopper voice is muffled from the bandana still pressed to his mouth, but the fearful tremor in it is clear. He looks from Usopp to Luffy, the two sitting beside him and holding similar expressions of curiosity. "Maybe there _are_ dragons – maybe it was a dragon that burned the island! What if – What if it's still out there!? What if it burns _us next!?"_

Usopp squeaks louder than the drawers. "We're practically sitting ducks! We're gonna die!"

"Yosh! Come, dragon, come! I'm gonna kick your ass! _Draaaagon_!"

"Oi, _Luffy_ – Stop, stop, stop! What if it hears you!?"

"Dragon! Dragon! DRAGON!"

"Shut up, you shitty bastards!" The piquant aroma of the food is stronger, and Sanji-kun is standing beside her, a plate of something steaming in each hand. His annoyed scowl is replaced instantly when he looks to her. "Here you go, Nami-san, Robin-chan! A dish as savory as your lovely selves! Spicy shrimp curry with seasoned bell peppers to match my burning love for you!"

Nami takes a bite from her dish and wonders if this is what the flames of the island taste like. "Fitting," she murmurs.

Sanji returns behind the counters and collects the plates for the rest of the crew. While he does so, Zoro grunts, "Three days," returning back to his original question. He has that stupid scowl on his face that he plasters on whenever he's annoyed – _he's always annoyed,_ Nami thinks – and she braces herself for his griping.

"It's just an estimate, but it's the best one I can offer."

"This is so stupid," he glowers. Sanji comes around and places a plate in front of Luffy and Usopp, the Captain already digging into the food before the plate even touches the table. "Isn't a navigator supposed to make sure this kind of thing doesn't happen?"

Which is immediately followed by a curt, "Oi, you shitty marimo! Don't you take that tone with Nami-san!"

Nami stabs her fork in Zoro's direction to punctuate every word. "The log pose can't tell the difference between a burning island and a normal one."

"A navigator should."

He ducks his head when Sanji's heel comes flying toward him but Nami is capable of defending herself so she replies back hotly, "There is no precedent for this sort of thing. Islands don't just catch on fire! There's no way anyone could have predicted this."

When Zoro's only response is a grunt, she smirks victoriously and takes a bite of her food. She is fully aware of her capabilities as a navigator, _thank you very much,_ so she knows she isn't to blame for this situation. Who could have predicted that their next island would have been _burned down_? Certainly not her; certainly not anyone. She tries hard to ignore the knot that suddenly forms in her stomach.

"I – uhm, I did smell the smoke before we came up on the island," Chopper says tentatively. He hands Zoro back the bandana when Sanji places a plate in front of him. "B-But I thought it was just an attacked ship, or – or maybe someone burning their garbage? I didn't think it would be our next island! I'm sorry, I should have said something . . ."

Sanji drops a plate in front Zoro in the least ceremonious way and then takes his own seat at the head of the table. With everyone seated, the fiasco of a Strawhats dinner splashes into action, everyone instinctively shielding their dish with their arm.

Chopper seems genuinely distraught so Nami moves to console him, but Robin beats her to it. "Don't apologize, Doctor-san, you weren't in the wrong," she says, her smooth voice cutting through Luffy's obnoxiously loud chewing. "Like Navigator-san said, no one could have predicted this. All we can do is make the best out of our situation. Besides, I don't mind it. It will give us some much needed rest after the excitement of Skypiea."

"I don' _th_ wan _th_ a res _th_ ," Luffy says through a mouth full of food, spraying bits of it all over the table. "I wanna _FIGHT_."

Something half-chewed flies out of his mouth and smacks Zoro in the face. "Damn it, Luffy! Swallow your food!" Usopp and Chopper burst out laughing, while Sanji scolds Luffy to not waste his food _"even if it is used to piss off the stupid musclehead."_

The subject of food prompts Nami to ask, "How _are_ we with food, Sanji-kun? For the next few days, I mean?"

"Don't worry your precious heart, Nami-swan!" He gushes immediately, his body swooning in his seat. His composure restores itself when he jerks his head towards his male crewmates. "The shark these idiots caught us this morning can last us until tomorrow, and we still have plenty of food in storage to cover us for the next week – as long as _someone_ stays out of my fucking kitchen."

"You hear that, Luffy?" Usopp asks. Luffy looks at him with a genuine confused face, so Usopp pokes him in the head and says loudly, "No raiding the kitchen! Do you understand? If you eat everything in the kitchen again, you'll kill us all."

"Waahhh! Please don't kill us, Luffy!" Chopper wails.

 _Not even seven minutes into dinner and already there's screaming and crying,_ Nami thinks, feeling her eye twitch ever so slightly. _That means it'll take another eight minutes before Zoro pulls out his swords. Or Sanji starts kicking._

Robin chuckles softly and for an unbelievable second Nami thinks that the other woman must have read her thoughts. "I think we'll be alright, Navigator-san," Robin intones quietly, looking at her with a small smile. "We have nothing substantial to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Nami lies quickly and badly, earning another chuckle from Robin. "I'm not! Don't look at me like that, Robin, you're embarrassing me. I'm not worried about us at all; I know we can handle a few days at sea without movement. We've sailed for longer days without docking dozens of times before. This is nothing."

Robin takes a bite from her food elegantly, completely undisturbed. She chews, swallows, takes a sip of her wine, then says, "I see. Although, that was not where I interpreted your worry to be."

Nami frowns, picturing the burning island and wondering how many homes were burned, how many trees and flowers and lives were incinerated. "Doesn't it bother you?"

"Not necessarily. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, though."

Someone must have said something considerably hilarious; Luffy is howling with laughter, food spilling from his mouth in the most disgusting manner. Usopp is shielding his face with his hands and Chopper hides underneath the table. Zoro is smirking in that smug manner of his and Sanji is glowering in that _"I'm going to fucking fillet you"_ manner of his – Nami can guess what was going on. She ignores it easily.

"Well, I'm bothered _and_ curious." She takes a rather large swallow of her wine. "I mean, what the hell, right? An entire island on fire? That's crazy. Who did that – _why_ did they do that? I just can't wrap my head around it. What do you think?"

"I think there are various conceivable reasons that can explain it," Robin begins, tilting her head to the side to avoid a flying, half-chewed shrimp tail. "It may be perhaps like you said earlier; maybe the island was attacked and this is the aftermath of the battle. Or, perhaps an incurable plague ravaged the lands and vegetation, and fire was the only way to eliminate it. Maybe an unspeakable crime like human experimentation had taken place there and the perpetrators wanted to erase all evidence of it. It's plausible even that the presiding monarch had decided to engage in mass genocide, choosing fire as his preferred weapon of – "

" – Ok, you know what? Forget I asked you." Nami sags in her seat and groans. "Now I'm less curious and _more_ bothered. _Robin,"_ she moans pitifully. _"Y_ ou were supposed to comfort me."

Robin smiles. "It's not as if the island is burning for a noble reason. Certainly you know that as well."

Nami frowns, swirling the wine in her cup, watching the red liquid sway and sway and sway. "I know, but . . . I can't help feeling like something bad is about to happen. This whole situation just feels like some awful attempt at a tragic poem, you know? An island on fire, a ship forced to stop and watch it, us being surrounded by smoke. So _tacky_ – what's next, is a dragon really going to pop out of nowhere, with the devil riding on his back? Pft!"

She meant it all as a joke, but Robin's features are anything but amused. She takes in Nami's words with a slow blink and a slight crease in her brow. "You're anticipating a tragedy?"

"Well, considering the type of track record we've been having so far . . ." she trails off.

"A tragedy is an event that causes great suffering and distress," Robin says softly, her eyes faraway. "Tragic poems usually revolve around a serious accident, crime, or natural catastrophe that cause immense sadness and someone's death. One would think that the island has already experienced the tragedy. Are you assuming that we will face one as well?"

 _Slam!_ Zoro's fist bangs against the table so hard the silverware – and herself – jolt, and he's half standing in his seat yelling profanities at Sanji, who throws his own collection of colorful insults. Luffy is laughing his ass off, choking on his food with every breath.

". . . Maybe tragedy isn't the right word here," Nami murmurs uncomfortably. She sets her wine glass down and shakes her head. "I'm just – you know what? Never mind. Forget I said anything. I'm just babbling. I don't know why I said that. We'll be fine – _Oi, Luffy!_ Swallow your freakin' food before I _make_ you!"

Luffy jerks at her voice and covers his mouth with both hands. He looks at her, opens his mouth to reply, thinks better of it and swallows first, then says, "Sorry Nami, but Zoro and Sanji are being funny!"

"They're being _homicidal_ , you idiot!" Usopp squeaks. "You need to stop them – _AH_! Luffy, you asshole! Don't take my food while I'm talking to you! _Saaaanji,_ Luffy's stealing my food again!"

At the grating wail, Sanji turns his attention to his captain, his scowl darkening. "What the _hell_ did I tell you about stealing other people's food, you shitty captain! Eat your own damned food!"

 _Eating with these fools is a tragedy to dinning etiquette_ , Nami thinks. She watches as poor Chopper finds himself being shoved against Usopp, who is trying to take back his stolen food from Luffy's hand, and Luffy, who is extending and maneuvering his neck like a electrocuted snake as he tries to avoid Sanji's foot. _There is definitely a lot of suffering happening here._

"Anyways Nami," Luffy says when they've all settled back down like somewhat civilized apes. He licks his fingers and carelessly says, "nothing bad's gonna happen, so don't go worrying about it so much!"

She bites her inner cheek to keep from frowning. _So much for having a private conversation with Robin,_ she complains to herself. _Nothing on this ship goes amiss._ Luffy grins at her, shrugging, "Even if the monster that burned down the island comes for us, I'll kick its ass no problem! Shishishishishi!"

A smile tugs on her lips unconsciously and she purses them to try and hide it. His simple-minded words of comfort are a strong contrast against Robin's logical explanations, and although the archeologist's words gave her something to ponder and answers she can grasp, Luffy's words are the ones that leave her feeling lighter. "Idiot," she mutters finally. "Who said I was worried?"

"So it _is_ a monster!?" Chopper cries, and just the word alone is enough of a catalyst for his and Usopp's shrieking.

Nami cuts them off before their voices reach a higher pitch. "That's _not_ how the island got burned."

Then Zoro's gruff voice butts in, "Who cares about the reasons," – and Nami is a little peeved to find him looking at _her_ because she can tell this idiot is addressing her and her talk with Robin. _Can't I have a conversation with one person without everyone pushing in with their stupid opinions!? –_ "It doesn't matter. It's on fire, the end. Stop thinking about stupid things."

"Asshole! Every one of Nami-san's thoughts are intelligent and fruitful and life changing and awe-inspiring! A shitty swordsman who can't even grasp putting one foot in front of the other has no right deciding what stupid is."

Zoro slams his hand against the table again, but this time Nami doesn't flinch. _"That's it!_ Your fucking head is getting sliced off!"

She sighs jadedly and pushes her wine glass away from the edge of the table. Robin does the same when Sanji barks a laugh, saying, "Good luck finding it, you directionless _dumbass!"_

Swords are drawn, chairs are pushed, the table jars, silverware jump, and suddenly there are two idiots on the ground in a pile of waving limbs and dancing blades, and her bigger idiot of a captain is cheering them on while his hand stretches towards their unguarded plates.

Nami turns her head to Robin. "Well?"

Robin nods. "You were correct. Swordsman-san drew his blades first."

"Time?"

The other woman pulls back her sleeve and inspects her watch. "Ah. Fifteen minutes and eighteen seconds. I've lost again."

Nami grins wickedly when Robin reaches into her pocket and pulls out the small roll of bills. She counts them easily, her grin widening, "That's a new record. Luck is definitely on my side today. Heh, I should go for double next time."

"Careful, Navigator-san," Robin warns with a mischievous smile. "It is a common pattern with tragedies for the main character to possess a brash and overconfident personality, adding to the dramatic effect of their foreshadowed and catastrophic demise."

 _"Robin,"_ Nami moans.

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 **tbc**


	2. ii

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Outside, it's as if nightfall has _literally_ fallen on them. It's near impossible to see anything through the black and grey swirls of smoke, but the pulsing red blur in the distant horizon is as clear as an afternoon sun.

Nami maneuvers around the deck with a hand on the rail. The smoke is disgusting to breath in, but every now and then a gust of wind would blow by, giving her the barest of moments of respite.

She finds the mast by accidently bumping her hip onto it. She hisses, curses colorfully, and then rubs the area she knows will become a bruise equally as colorful. She stands on her spot in the center of the deck, already feeling more relaxed in her rightful place.

She had intended to scan the horizon after dinner, but it now looks like that idea might as well have been burned to a crisp. She can't see a _thing_. The smoke from the island is relentless, spilling into the air and staining over the ocean and around the ship. It's creepy and ominous, and the quick change from the clear, blue ocean and sky only hours ago makes her stomach roll.

She places her hands on the helm and does nothing else. There's nothing else she _can_ do. A navigator's job is to always plan ahead and adjust to any changes accordingly, but since The _Merry_ wont be moving any time soon judging by her log pose, her position on the ship is void. Luffy's chants of _boring, boring, boring,_ echo in her mind and she's tempted to slam her head against the helm.

Like Robin said, they were dead in the water – Eh, no, Nami doesn't like that phrase, so she changes it to merely _standing still in the water_.

The black veil of smoke surrounds the deck like murky silk. She can hear the others on deck bellow her, doing God knows what. She can't make out any of their silhouettes, like black ghosts roaming the foggy skies. She hears Luffy and Usopp clearly, and the coughing from a few feet away can either be Sanji or Zoro, she's not sure.

The crackling flames of the island refuse to go unnoticed; they pop and spit like angry red pythons, but behind the smog it looks nothing more than a large warm glow. Another sliver of wind breezes past her, caressing her hair and skin like delicate hands, and the black clears away in favor of grey.

She doesn't know how long she stands there, watching the island pulse like an angry heart. The smooth sway of the ship and the thick blanket of the smoke make her feel like she's swimming in a dream. Nami wonders – no, she _hopes –_ that no one was on that island before it was set alight. Robin's words come back to her like a bad memory and she bites her lips because this is definitely _not_ a natural occurrence. Islands don't spontaneously catch on fire, and people sure as hell don't light up a landmass as large as _that_ for a rational reason.

She coughs lightly and rubs her eyes _. Stupid island._ Luffy's right, this _is_ boring. She doesn't want to spend the next few days staring at the stupid island, its presence itself feeling like a punch line to a very, very dark joke. _God,_ this whole mess is just so infuriating. Even more so because there's a small, annoying voice in the back of her mind that is obnoxiously trying to convince her that this could have all been prevented . . .

She coughs again. _Shut up,_ she tells her self. There's no way she could have predicted this – and she sure as hell isn't about to argue with herself about it. _The smoke looked like storm clouds,_ she hisses to her pesky mind, closing the discussion before she even opens it.

She coughs again – _hell,_ it feels like there's sand in her throat. She coughs once more, but the ones after that are involuntary and incessant and she coughs and coughs and _coughs_ –

A hand grips her shoulder and she is steered away from the helm. She's coughing louder now, her eyes stinging something fierce. She lets herself be pushed into a room all the while trying to catch her _goddamn_ breath.

Then, she's sitting down and Sanji is pushing a glass of water near her face.

"I'm _so_ sorry for shoving you so rudely, Nami-san. Even though your coughs sound like angelic singing from Heaven above, I couldn't stand to see you in pain. Here, drink some water so your lovely voice can recover! Unless, would you like _me_ to . . . ?"

She takes the cup from his hand before he gets any more ideas. The water is delicious and healing, and with each swallow she feels her throat rectify itself and smooth over. She leans back in her seat and blinks the galley into focus – oh, she's back in the galley. Chopper and Robin are here too, the pair conversing on the table.

Sanji takes back the empty cup and hands her a wet washcloth for her face. "Smoke's no good, Chopper says," he tells her, cupping a hand over his cigarette as he lights it. "He doesn't want us outside for too long if we can help it. Usopp went to get the other two idiots."

Nami frowns, but says nothing. She eyes Robin and Chopper with curiosity, wondering what they were doing for the past few hours and hoping that it was a bit more productive than her time.

Sanji takes a seat next to her wordlessly. He blows out a stream of smoke and Nami's mind wanders back to the burning island blowing its own personal smolder, and she wonders what else besides the trees and bushes and mountains and homes was burned to create those black clouds.

The galley door opens and Usopp announces loudly, "I brought 'em."

Chopper and Robin look up. Usopp is pushing Luffy by the shoulders further into the room, with Zoro stalking behind them. Nami notices that both their eyes are bloodshot and tight. Luffy's tongue hangs from his mouth as he coughs, and Nami realizes right then why Chopper wanted to gather them all.

"Chopper, _whyyyy?"_ Luffy moans pitifully. "Me and Zoro were in the middle of a game!" Which is quickly, and sharply, followed with a "No, we weren't! I was trying to sleep!"

Luffy is plopped on a seat near Chopper, but Zoro yawns and settles himself on the floor, propping his swords against his shoulder before crossing his legs and closing his eyes. Chopper climbs onto the table, looks at everyone carefully, then says, "Guys, I need you all to listen. Because we wont be moving for a few days, and because the smoke is so bad . . . from now on, _no one_ is allowed to go outside or onto the deck! Everyone needs to stay indoors until we leave this area, doctor's orders!"

The room explodes in a chorus of five respective " _WHAT!?"'s –_ one full of anger, one of disappointment, one shrill with surprise , one righteously offended, and her own baffled shout.

Chopper winces, then cowers when he's bombarded by a stampede of questions – "What do you mean we can't go outside? Where are we supposed to _play_?!" – "Oi, oi, oi, what are you saying? You're not serious, Chopper?" – "Where the hell am I supposed to train?" – "We _have_ to go outside, you shitty doctor! Where the hell are Nami-san and Robin-chan suppose to sunbathe!?" – and her own addition of "So we're just suppose to leave the ship unmanned and unprotected?"

But those are the only questions they're allowed to get out before arms sprout from their shoulders. A hand firmly cups each of their mouths, effectively silencing them. Almost as one, their heads turn to Robin's direction. With her arms crossed, she smiles at them innocently and says, "Please allow Doctor-san to continue."

The hands withdraw and Nami rubs her mouth absently. Chopper sends the archeologist a grateful look and says to the others, "This is serious, you guys! The smoke is _really_ bad for you! Prolonged exposure can lead to fainting, seizures, and comas! I don't have any oxygen tanks or deliberators or any materials on the ship that can help you if you develop something serious! Robin told me she only stood outside for two hours before she was coughing up black stuff. I don't want any of you to get sick, especially when I can't help you."

"Then let's just leave," Usopp offers. "Turn back around and wait it out in some non-smoke-infected part of the ocean."

Nami finds that all eyes are now on her. She considers Usopp's words fleetingly. "Too late for that. I can barely see a thing outside, so who knows what could be in our way. Plus the smoke probably spread so far out that we would need to sail longer than it took to get here to get away from it, and that would really screw with the log pose."

"Right," Chopper nods. "Robin said the same thing. That's why the best we can do is stay where we are, but to avoid any _more_ complications, everyone needs to stay inside, at least until the log pose corrects itself. I don't want you guys to breath in any more smoke than you already have."

"Does that mean only Sanji can go outside?" Luffy asks. "Cause he's always smoking and stuff? "

Usopp rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Hmmm, that's true. His body must be so used to inhaling smoke that if he goes outside he probably wont even notice a difference!"

"No, no! _No one's_ allowed outside, not even Sanji! This smoke is different than the cigarette smoke; if anything, his lungs are already so weakened from inhaling the nicotine that he would be the _most_ affected by the smoke outside! It could kill you, Sanji!"

Sanji bristles. "Why are you yelling at _me_? I didn't say anything!"

"No one's allowed outside," Chopper reaffirms, louder and steadier. "If you need to move around the ship to get from one room to the other, cover your mouth and nose with a piece of cloth and try your best not to breathe in the smoke. OK?"

"What are we going to do for watch?" Zoro asks. He still has his eyes closed and his arms crossed underneath his head. "We can't leave the ship unguarded at night, even here."

 _Especially here,_ Nami hears instead. The question gives pause to everyone, and Robin and Chopper share a look, telling Nami this topic is something they didn't consider, or haven't broached yet. She wants to say that the probability of them being ambushed is quite low considering their situation, and that no other ship will venture as far as they did with the smoke as bad as it is now, but keeps it to herself. She knows that no matter the situation, the ocean is a dangerous place, and leaving oneself vulnerable is a deadly risk.

Zoro doesn't let the silence stretch out too long. "If we cant guard the ship from outside, we might as well guard it from inside. Robin and Nami can make shifts for themselves in their room, and we'll do the same in the guys' room. Or, we can all cramp in one room and make shorter shifts with more people."

Nami doesn't like the latter idea – especially more so when Sanji-kun's head snaps towards her excitedly, nose bleeding and eyes bulging– the thought of sharing a room with a swordsman that snores louder than a motorbike and a captain that has full on conversations with himself in his sleep sounds very unappealing.

Robin catches her eye with a smile, and Nami knows the other woman shares her sentiment. While the boys pad out of the galley and to their room, she and Robin designate shifts easily. Robin moves to pour herself a cup of water, bidding her a goodnight.

Outside, the island waves a greeting to her with a thousand flaming hands.

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	3. iii

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She dreams of Nojiko that night.

Her sister is cradling Nami in her arms, Nami's only view being the bottom of Nojiko's chin and her matted blue hair. She can make out a dark purple sky and a few scattered clouds. She's a baby again. She can feel the smallness of her size. The smell of death and decay fills her senses. She hears fire roaring and cracking over a buzzing white noise, but all she sees is her sister.

Then Nojiko looks down at her and grins, and Nami sees blood on her head and bruises under eyes and a ghastly paleness over her face. But she feels safe and light, so she smiles back.

She wakes up, cold.

Robin takes her sister's place; the archeologist is looking down at her with a smile, a hand on her shoulder, and she says, "It's your turn, Navigator-san," and Nami remembers her current situation.

It's still dark outside, dawn yet to make its entrance. The smoke is thin and light, a blanket of opacity, and the island is brighter and angrier than yesterday. She covers half of her face with her sleeve, mouth tight lipped to ensure that smog won't be the first thing she tastes upon waking up. She makes her way to the map room, collects a handful of parchment rolls and supplies, then returns back to the girls' room.

Nami pours over her maps with a fervor she had lacked last night. The next few hours are spent hunched on the table, over the watchful eye of the oil lamp. She records yesterday's events in the logbook, plots the burning island on the map with a few cautionary notes, and determines to her best capability its size and mass. Once her hand begins to cramp, she blows out the lamp and leaves the room quietly to let Robin continue her slumber in peace.

She heads for the galley, but right when her hand is over the galley door, she stops. Something is different. She turns, and realizes that through the night, the waves have shifted the ship, the _Merry's_ side now facing the island, not its front. Involuntarily, Nami stares at the island. It burns relentlessly, endlessly. She wonders how much was on that island for it just burn and burn and _burn_. Her mouth tastes of ash and iron. She pushes the door open.

In the galley, unsurprisingly, she finds Sanji. Dawn has peaked outside, and inside Sanji has already begun his early preparations for breakfast. Nami knows that the very beginnings of meal preparations are always the most hectic, the most time consuming, and the most vigorous. Sanji is so deeply indulged he doesn't even notice her entrance.

She laughs out loud when he turns around and almost drops the pan in his hand at the sight of her. He sputters out a greeting then recites a poem that has too many words synonymous with love and beauty. He offers her a croissant as a light snack before breakfast, and she accepts while taking a seat at the table.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Mm," She bites into the flaky, buttered bread. The texture is so thin it melts in her mouth. "Almost instantly. The ocean here is so calm, so lazy, I felt like I was being rocked to sleep, like a baby."

She doesn't even recall falling asleep. Her head touched the pillow, and the ship swayed deeply to one side, and she woke up to it swaying on the other. Sanji sets a cup of orange juice beside her wrist. He says, "Me, too. When Usopp woke me for my shift, I didn't want to get up. It's probably all the smoke, though, Chopper did say a side-effect of breathing it in is fatigue."

Nami yawns. She looks at the cup but doesn't reach for it. Sanji returns behind the counters and Nami asks, "You and Usopp were on guard duty then?"

"And the Marimo, he took first watch." A pan clinks onto the stove's cooktop, and the gas clicks once, twice, three times before the fire underneath alights. "It's weird, staying on the ship without moving. Feels like I'm in a hotel. I can already feel my sea legs starting to form."

"Do you think it could have been avoided?" She blurts out before she can stop herself. _Why did I say that?_ She bites her lip when Sanji looks back at her with a confused frown. _I shouldn't, but I need the reaffirmation._ ". . . being stuck here, I mean. Do you think we could predicted that this would happen, and somehow not end up stuck here?"

Sanji's eyes widen. "Ah, N-Nami-san! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean anything by it, I promise! I actually like –no, _love_! I love staying on the ship when it's not moving! I didn't mean to say this was your fault – I swear I don't think it is!"

"It's fine. I know what you meant, that's not why I brought it up," she waves. A sigh escapes her, a long wistful one. She thinks about the storm clouds that weren't storm clouds, thinks about the thoughts she had when she saw them, how she convinced herself it was nothing, it was fine, they were fine, it won't be a problem. "Guess I'm a little hung up on what Zoro said earlier."

That isn't the right thing to say in front of Sanji. "That stupid, shitty, _asshole_ Marimo. Don't listen to anything he says – the hell does an idiot like him know about navigation? Stupid, idiotic, green-haired _buffoon_ ," he slams the top over the pot, forcibly shuts the cabinets, stomping his feet with every angry step. "You're not to blame for what happened, Nami-san, regardless what that moronic seaweed-head said."

She drinks her orange juice in silence, comforted but unconvinced.

The hours pass in relative ease. Usopp and Luffy eventually make their appearance into the galley, although not for long. They've, unsurprisingly, learned how to make a game out of their confinement, running from room to room, holding their breaths until they were outdoors. Luffy calls it _"outside swimming"_. Sanji calls it _"pure idiocy."_

Soon Chopper comes in and immediately drills in a lecture to the two idiots about the danger of their game. Screaming and whining ensues, but Nami tunes it out. It's nothing but white noise to her, droning in the most comfortable of ways.

Robin makes a quiet entrance that is loudly welcomed by Sanji. The woman's appearance can only mean that they're now well into the morning, and that indication is further reinforced by the strong smell of sizzling bacon and frying eggs.

Breakfast is called and Sanji sends Luffy to wake Zoro, and just as quickly as morning crept over them, the seats are filled and plates are set and breakfast is served.

It's a loud affair, as to be expected, but to their standards it's not loud enough. Everyone seems a bit subdued, Nami notices. Conversations are short and less excitable, most likely because none of them have done anything substantial to warrant talking about. There's some coughing going around, too. Usopp manages to fill the occasional silence with overdramatic stories, but they're not as engaging as they used to be.

"Did you guys see the island today?" Chopper asks after Usopp ends his story with a thrilling conclusion. "Behind all the smoke, it looked like there were two suns outside! I can't believe the island is _still_ burning."

Nami recalls the warm colors of the horizon. "The island is a pretty big one. If there were forests and vegetation in it, it should keep burning for the rest of the week."

"It's like a giant, outdoor fireplace," Chopper chirps. "It even reminds me of the fireplace in Doctorate's place. I used to sit next to it when it was very cold and drink hot cocoa."

Luffy's head perks up. "Ohhh! Sanji, can you make us hot cocoa later? Can ya?"

"I can, but it's way too warm out for hot cocoa. Why not something cold, like regular chocolate milk."

"Hot, hot, hot! With marshmallows and whip cream."

Sanji rolls his eyes, but there's a soft smile on his face. "Aye, Captain."

"You know what the island reminds _me_ of?" Usopp asks loudly. "That bonfire back at Skypeia! Do you remember? Maaan, that was such a cool night."

Nami snorts. "How can we forget? It wasn't even a week ago."

"That bonfire was _huge!_ And remember the wolves? They were so much fun, who woulda thought? It's a good thing I'm an expert wolf-whisperer and was able to tame them, or else you all would've been mauled to death!"

"That's not what happened," Luffy laughs. "But that feast was yummy! Hey Sanji, can you-"

"No feasts."

Luffy pouts. Chopper turns to Robin. "Hey, Robin, does the burning island remind you of anything?" He asks earnestly.

Robin doesn't say anything until she's completely chewed and swallowed her food. When her jaw stops moving, she cocks her head to the side, giving the impression of being deep in thought. Then, she looks at Chopper and answers. "It reminds me of a burning island."

Luffy laughs loudly at that, his face split into a wide smile. Apparently he's found her answer to be something unbelievably funny that he nearly falls off his chair, making the others laugh. Chopper blinks, then scratches the back of his head, abashed. "I guess that makes sense."

"Dumbass, don't ask Robin-chan stupid questions. She's too smart for that."

Robin puts another bite of food into her mouth wordlessly. Nami doesn't know what, but there seems to be something off with the older woman, she just can't put her finger on it. There's a faraway look in her eyes, making them seem almost glassy.

"What about Zoro?" Chopper asks between giggles, interrupting her thoughts.

The swordsman picks his head up from the plate. "Hn?"

"What does the burning island remind you of?"

Unlike Robin, Zoro has absolutely zero sense of dining etiquette, and says with a mouth full of food, "What does that matter?"

Usopp says, "Because we're all telling stories and it's your turn. Don't be a spoilsport – even Robin shared."

Zoro raises an eyebrow at that. "Fine," he says, swallowing. "Looks like this pirate ship I saw a while back. It was on fire in the middle of the ocean, sorta like the island."

Satisfied with supplying an answer, he takes a wide swing of his drink. Naturally, Sanji can't let Zoro speak without getting the last word in. "What kind of swordsman burns ships? Did you forget to bring your swords or something?"

"Idiot, _I_ didn't burn it."

"Was it a mystery fire?" Luffy asks.

"No. I knew why it was on fire."

Chopper asks, "Did _you_ light it on fire?"

"I just said I didn't."

"Then why was it on fire?"

Zoro sighs loudly, the sound close to a withering groan. "It was when I was a bounty hunter, alright?" He looks bored as he explains, "I went after this pirate with a big bounty on his head. Don't remember his name. Cut him up real good. He was practically dying as he stood. Then the idiot starts ranting about his hatred against the Marines, how he won't give them the satisfaction of having proof or something."

"So you burned his ship?" Luffy asks.

"No," Zoro says after a long beat. "The guy doused himself with oil and set himself on fire."

Nami feels sick. Chopper gasps, his little hooves covering his mouth. Usopp stutters madly, "H-H-H-He _burned_ himself!?"

Zoro shrugs, taking another large swallow of his drink. Nami puts a hand on her stomach, the nausea feeling all too real. That was not what she was expecting the swordsman to say, but then again, she could never anticipate what would be coming out of his mouth.

"Smart," Robin comments. _Another person who says the most unexpected things,_ Nami thinks, looking at the other woman with a horrified expression. "The fire would completely deform the man's body, making him indistinguishable from his wanted poster, that way, you wouldn't be able to hand him over to the Marines and collect his bounty. I suppose the ship ultimately caught on fire as well, further eliminating any connection to the pirate's identity."

Nami doesn't want to hear anymore. Usopp practically voices her thoughts; "That's not smart, that's _gross_. I didn't want to hear that while _eating,_ Zoro!"

"Then don't ask me questions if you can't handle the answer," Zoro snaps at Usopp.

"It was Luffy who asked!"

"I thought he was going to tell a funny story!" Luffy defends quickly.

"Alright. New rule," Sanji says. "Marimo's no longer allowed to contribute to group discussions."

Zoro growls, but his words are directed to all of them, "The hell do you think the life of a pirate is like? You think that island over there caught on fire 'cause it was _cold_? You all need to start getting it through your heads that worst-case scenarios will happen out here. If you can't take it seriously when it counts, you'll be dead."

And just like that, the mirth is sucked out of the room. _Where the hell did that come from?_ Nami thinks. The others look away, ashamed, as if Zoro just reprimanded them all for behaving badly.

She glares at the swordsman throughout the rest of breakfast. He doesn't notice, or doesn't care. He continues eating without looking up, and pushes whatever he's got left on his plate towards Luffy before announcing he's going back to sleep. Then everyone else gets up and breakfast ends in the same note it began.

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"Are you alright?"

Nami really needs to start reviewing her questions in her head before she blurts them out unrequitedly; immediately after she hears herself ask the question she winces. _Way to start off a conversation._

It's just before evening and Nami is back in the galley. Sanji and Robin are the only ones there, the others probably running around the deck with Chopper hot on their heels, Zoro asleep in some corner. Sanji is cooking up dinner, something that requires a lot of steaming. Probably diced octopus with creamy pasta from the smell of it. Shark fin soup on the side, one of Nami's favorites.

Robin is drinking a steaming cup of ginger tea, something she requested when Sanji offered her a drink. Sanji had gushed and bawled for ten minutes about how fortunate he was to be blessed with both their presences' in his kitchen, and thanked whatever star he was born under for such a monumental opportunity.

It wasn't really a star that led them back to the galley. It was mostly boredom. For Nami, anyway. She doesn't know why Robin returned here. After breakfast ended, everyone dispersed, trying to pass the time doing something that was within their limitations. Not being able to sit out in the deck made keeping track of the others difficult, unless they found each other in the same room. Like they did for meals, and like they did now. Nami has no idea what Robin had been doing during that time, or Sanji for that matter. It bothered her to be out of the loop.

Robin turns the page in her book delicately. It's an old book, thick and rigid, with text the size of ants. Nami and Robin are sitting beside each other, shoulders nearly touching. In front of Nami is a map they picked up from the previous island that vaguely outlines the part of the sea that they currently occupy. Nami had been reading it before she found herself staring at Robin uncertainly.

"Do I seem unwell?" Robin asks, unbothered by the frank question.

"No, sorry- I just, uhm," there's something about Robin that intimidates her. Not in the fearful kind of way. She doesn't want to say she's always finding herself trying to impress Robin and have her think Nami is cool because that's childish and Nami isn't a kid anymore – but it's something close to that. The adult version of that.

"You seemed a bit off this morning, is all."

Robin's eyebrows rise a little and Nami cringes at the words she chose. "Oh?" But Robin doesn't seem insulted, only amused. "That's interesting. Out of everyone that seemed off this morning, I would think the general consensus would be Swordsman-san."

From behind the counter, Sanji snorts loudly. Nami says, "Yeah, well, Zoro's always a dick. That's nothing new."

Another laugh from Sanji. Robin smiles. "Is that so."

"Yeah. But to be honest, you were acting weird during breakfast, too. Like you were moving in slow motion."

Robin thinks about that. "I suppose I was more tired than usual because of the long watch duty."

That makes sense, but Nami doesn't feel satisfied. "It's not just that. You looked . . ." she searches for an appropriate word. "Unwell."

A slight frown. "Oh? How so?"

That's the problem, Nami doesn't _know_. There's just _something_ about her that seems different, but she can't put her finger on it, and it's bothering her so badly that she can't focus on anything else. Nami says, "You just, I don't know, seem . . . distracted."

"We are in a very distracting situation, it shouldn't be surprising that our attentions would be elsewhere."

"Sure, but you seem _more_ distracted than everyone else. More _bothered_. Unnerved."

Robin doesn't blink. "That holds true for yourself, Navigator-san."

Nami doesn't entertain her attempt at deflection. "Well, duh. I'm not exactly trying to hide it. But you're the one that's never bothered by anything, and if you are, you never show it. But now . . . " She lets the next blunt question flow out, "Do _you_ think you're acting normal?"

 _Wow, harsh_ , Nami scolds herself. If Sanji weren't such a gentlemen, he would probably be shaking his head in disapproval at her right now. Someone should. Nami definitely needs to have someone rein her in before she starts talking.

Robin's eyes slide down to her tea. Her expression is blank. After a beat, she answers. "No."

Nami blinks stupidly, forgetting her question. "No?"

"You're right. I apologize. I have been distracted. I didn't think I was making it obvious."

A part of her is elated at being right. _I knew it._ "You weren't obvious, I'm just a really good observer."

Robin chuckles. "That you are." She turns a page in her book.

"What's distracting you, then? Anything I should worry about?"

"It's nothing pressing."

"Oh, come on. It's gotta be something big if _you're_ thinking about it."

"The island is bringing back some unpleasant memories."

That isn't the answer she was expecting. Nami's mouth forms a round circle. She remembers Robin's answer from earlier this morning, when Chopper asked her what the island reminded her of. "Have you seen something like this before?"

"Yes." Her voice is gentle, but clipped.

"When?"

Robin looks up from her book, looks at Nami. Smiles. Nami realizes, looking at that fake smile, that the archeologist isn't going to give her an answer. She also realizes how insensitive she must seem.

"Shit, sorry. Ugh, just- forget I asked. I'm being annoying. You don't have to tell me. Ugh, I swear I don't know when to stop talking; next time feel free to just tell me to shut up and I will."

Another chuckle from Robin. "It's quite alright. Curiosity is an important trait to have."

"Except when you don't know when to hold it back."

"Mm." Robin takes a sip of her tea. She changes the subject effortlessly, murmuring. "It seems tonight will be a very lax one."

"I hope so," Nami hums. Then she frowns. "Actually, nevermind. I hope not. It's too mundane here. I hope something happens. I'm getting bored."

"You sound like Captain-san."

"Blagh," she grumbles smartly. She folds her arms on atop the table and rests her chin on them.

Robin's eyes glance at her wrist. "No activity from the log pose, I presume?"

Nami looks at the thing with a tiny inkling of hope, but groans a negative when she finds the needle unresponsive and dead. "I'm starting to think we're gonna be stuck here longer than I said."

She can't tell if Robin is disappointed with the news, but she can't tell if she's happy about it either; Robin simply accepts it with absolute neutrality. "Doctor-san won't like that," she says after Sanji places a plate of fruit between them wordlessly. "He expressed uncertainty about how much exposure to the smoke we can face before we begin showing signs of illness."

A stream of frustration builds in her bloodstream, and Nami clenches her teeth. Her words are spoken through them, "Well too bad, there's nothing we can do about it. What's the point about complaining about something we can't change, anyway?"

The room quiets. Robin searches her face. "My apologies. I didn't mean to infer that you were at fault, Navigator-san."

Nami holds her face with both hands and groans loudly. _Great. I'm worse than Zoro, taking my anger out at other people._ She can feel Sanji's eyes on her back. "No, no," she mutters, the hands sliding off. She places her head on the table and stares at the wood. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I'm just – irritated, I guess. Not at anyone, no, just at this whole stupid situation."

"That's to be expected," Robin says, and a hand touches her shoulder comfortably.

Nami turns her head and lets her cheek touch the cold wood. "I have nothing to do. Luffy and Usopp can still play around in the rooms, Chopper too. You can sit inside and read away the day, Zoro can sleep and train, and Sanji-kun is always in the kitchen anyways. I'm the _navigator_ , though; I'm not supposed to be cooped up indoors. My place is on the deck, watching the horizon. But I can't do any of that now so I'm _bored,_ and I get irritated when I'm bored. _"_

She sounds like a petulant child, she knows. Worse than when Luffy complains, probably. But Robin's eyes are always welcoming and _open,_ inviting her to talk and offering to listen, and how can Nami not? And then, like always, Robin addresses what Nami doesn't say. "Please don't blame yourself."

Nami sighs, looking away. She mutters to herself, "Who else can I blame?"

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	4. iv

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The next morning, Usopp intercepts her on her way out of the map room for breakfast. He gestures secretively to go back inside, so Nami humors him.

"Sanji said you noticed Robin was acting weird yesterday," he says quietly when the door closes on just the two of them. He glances around dramatically to ensure no one was spying on them. "He said you confronted her, but she just brushed it off."

Nami puts a hand on her hip, gives Usopp a withering look. "Is that what you guys talk about when we're not around? Gossiping like hens about what the _girls were talking about?"_

Usopp blushes. "It's-it's nothing like _that_! We do lots of things you don't know about, like sumo wrestling, and killing stowaway bugs, and–" He clears his throat, composing himself. "It's just- We were just talking and he mentioned it off handedly, I swear."

"Uh-huh," she hums doubtfully. "Yeah, I asked her if she was OK, and she said she was. What's it to you?"

"Well. See, I noticed something weird about her too yesterday. Nothing bad, just…odd, you know? I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but seeing how you also noticed how weird she's been…"

He trails off. Nami asks, immediately curious, "What did you notice?"

"It was during the first night, after Chopper rounded us and gave us that lecture. Me and Luffy went out to go play Outside Swimming –" Nami glares at him, " – o-o-only for a few minutes, though! We were careful, and quick! And-and-we put clothe around our mouths just like Chopper said –"

"Get to the point. I'm starving."

"Right, OK. So, we were playing, and you know how the point of the game is to run outside and get inside a room as fast as possible? Well, I didn't notice at first, but at one point when I was outside, I saw Robin out on the deck, just standing there. Looking at the island."

Nami frowns. She wants to tell him that that isn't really that odd, that looking at the island cant be helped. It's a strange phenomenon and everyone is rightfully intrigued by it.

Usopp continues, "I saw her and thought, 'OK, whatever, she wants to see the island. No big deal'. But the thing was: she didn't move a muscle – everytime me and Luffy ran out of a room, she was still there. Standing. All ominous. I don't think she even noticed us. Luffy didn't think anything of it, obviously, but I thought it was creepy. She wasn't even wearing anything to cover her mouth! I don't know when she went back inside after we finished playing."

Nami crosses her arms, her brow furrowed. "That _is_ weird," she murmurs.

"Right? That's what I thought! I didn't know who to tell, or if anyone else would think it was weird. But when Sanji mentioned that you were worried about Robin, I knew you'd understand."

"I do. You're right. She's been so distant lately. Well, more than usual. It was hard to ignore."

"Do you think she knows something we don't? Like she's hiding something from us?"

The idea of Robin being secretive because she didn't trust them was not far fetched, but it did break Nami's heart a little. "She didn't brush me off completely," Nami says. "When I asked her, I mean. She gave me an answer, but I don't think she wanted to talk about it. She said something about bad memories."

"Oh," Usopp says softly. "Do you think she has a fear of fire or something? What's that called? Pyrophobia? That sounds about right."

"Robin isn't the type of person to have such a trivial fear." Nami recalls the dream she had a few nights ago, of Nojiko holding her, surrounded by death and disaster and fire. "I think she might have had a traumatic experience in the past, and the island is just bringing it all back up."

Usopp looks uncomfortable. "Should we do something? Talk to her maybe?"

Nami shakes her head. "I told you, she didn't look like she wanted to talk about it. Besides, she's fine health-wise. Just preoccupied. It's not like she's dying or something."

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It's too dark when Nami goes to call the others for lunch.

There's wind blowing from the west, low and soothing. It's a welcome coolness from the choking heat emitted from the smoke. Nami presses the cloth harder against her face. Her eyes sting, and she knows she shouldn't stay out too long, but she finds herself frozen in place, staring at the burning island, its features blurred behind the clouds of smoke.

She shakes her head, and then yells for the others one more time. _It might look pretty from far away, but it's because of it that we're stuck here, so no. I wont admire it._ She feels more than sees Luffy barrel past her. Usopp comes behind him, arms outstretched to find the door within the thick grey veil, and when he gets closer she notices Chopper perched on his head. Usopp and her share a look.

The table is already set inside, but Sanji slaps away Luffy's hand when he reaches for the steaming fish. "Wait until everyone is sitting, you manner-deficient ape."

But even when that is done, Sanji is still frowning. He glares pointedly at the only empty seat. "That piece of _shit._ Oi, Luffy, go get your shitty swordsman already. The bastard is apparently deaf as well as stupid if he couldn't hear Nami-san's angelic voice calling."

Luffy looks like he's in physical pain getting up and forcibly distancing himself from the table of food. But his exaggerated pain is brief; as with breakfast, they don't have to wait too long before Luffy comes back, pulling a drowsy Zoro along with him. Sanji shoots the swordsman a disdainful look, and Zoro counters it with his own, but thankfully that is the extent of their bickering.

The symphony of forks against plates, of cups against a wooden surface, of food crunching and grinding are all soothing to Nami's ears. It's the beginnings of meals that she enjoys the most; even if it is woefully disorderedly and _way_ below every universal standard of eating, Nami finds it peaceful, almost comforting.

But today, there seems to be a small anomaly; every once in a while, the distinct clatter of noises is disrupted by a cough, short but sharp. She looks up to see who it is that made the sound, but she's never quick enough.

Soon enough, those respective coughing gets harder to hide, and the suspects are exposed – Luffy and Usopp cover their mouths and avoid eye contact with Chopper, who quickly puts two and two together.

Which, of course, begins the meal's first shouting match; Chopper berates Luffy and Usopp loudly, and the two defend themselves even louder. After much accusations of going outside _"when I specifically told you not to"_ and protestations of _"we didn't stay out that long! We were only outside long enough . . . to play our game . . . heh . . .",_ it concludes with another lecture on the dangers of breathing in the smoke. Nami is tempted to tell him to not even bother – it's not like those two would listen.

Nami's eyes are on Robin, who sits besides Luffy. Her face is a bit flushed, just a bit, and Nami could have sworn it was because she was secretly coughing along with the two idiots. That, or from eating too much of the spiced deviled eggs. Nami isn't sure - she didn't necessarily _see_ Robin cough, but Nami could have _sworn_ she heard a small, discreet cough in-between the loud obnoxious ones.

Eventually Chopper's lecture ends with him encouraging – _no,_ demanding _is the right word –_ everyone to drink more water, and discouraging everyone (Zoro in particular) from drinking alcohol. Something about clearing the airways and esophagus and lungs and what not; Nami half pays attention, knowing she has nothing to worry about. She knows how to maintain her health just fine.

The ship sways. Seconds are served. Usopp sticks chopsticks under his upper lip and pretends to be a walrus. Everyone laughs. Sanji refills her glass with a second helping of chilled white wine. Everything is normal, peaceful.

Then Zoro huffs and pushes his plate to Luffy, and Nami frowns. _That's not the first time he's done that,_ she thinks. He did it subtlety during all the previous meals, when there was just a bit of food left on his plate and everyone else was near wrapping up. Not only is Zoro's new habit of leaving the table early annoying, it's also odd as hell.

The other oddity is that it's Sanji who addresses it first — "And where the hell do you think _you're_ going?"

All heads look up. Nami stops chewing at the sudden silence.

Zoro grunts, "To sleep."

Sanji's mouth twitches. "You've been sleeping all day, fucking lazy bastard."

"Piss off. I can sleep whenever I want; what does it matter to you?"

"You're wasting my goddamn food, _that's why!"_

" _Waste?_ Luffy's eating it!"

Luffy looks up with both cheeks inflated, food poking out of his mouth, two plates herded between his arms. He grins, and more food spills out. Sanji seems even more annoyed, but Zoro strides out of the galley without hearing any more complaints.

Sanji pulls out a cigarette and lights it up, grumbling under his breath. Nami's eyes don't leave the galley door.

Luffy finally swallows his food with an audible gulp."Wahh, Zoro's so lucky, being able to sleep whenever he wants. I bet he never gets bored."

Usopp rolls his eyes. "Idiot, he only sleeps when he _is_ bored."

"I thought he trained when he gets bored," Chopper says.

Usopp considers that. "Hmm, I think it's more like he sleeps when he's bored, and then when he's bored of sleeping he trains."

"It's not natural for a guy to sleep that much," Sanji mutters. He blows a thin stream of smoke from the corner of his mouth. "He definitely was dropped on the head when he was kid, fucked up his brain or something to make him perpetually sleepy. That exists, right, Chopper?"

"I don't think so."

"He must be patient zero, then." Usopp says.

Luffy giggles. "Patient _Zoro_."

The two of them burst out in hysterics. Nami looks to Robin to see if anyone else doesn't find this situation funny and – _yup, of course,_ Robin looks anything but amused. She looks contemplative . . . well, _more_ contemplative than usual. Just the sight of those faraway eyes makes alarm bells ring inside Nami's head.

When lunch ends, Sanji picks Usopp for dishwashing duty while he makes hot chocolate. The others scatter with steaming mugs in their hands, and Nami seeks out Robin, because she needs to dissect the other woman's thoughts. She needs to know what she's thinking, because unlike the rest of them, Robin doesn't bother herself with trivial matters, doesn't tire herself with analyzing something that holds no merit. She hasn't known Robin for a considerably long time, but Nami likes to think she knows at least _that_ much about the older woman.

But Robin – mysterious, sneaky, _unreadable_ Robin – only smiles at Nami's not so subtle inquiries and says that there's a book she's been meaning to read and now seems like a good time to start, and leaves to hole herself in their shared room. Clearly, Nami thinks to herself with a huff, she doesn't know Robin well enough. _But I will,_ she tells herself adamantly. _Nothing eludes me._

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She unintentionally manages to forget about Zoro's mysterious behavior for the rest of the afternoon – that is, until dinner.

This time, _everyone_ stares at the empty seat, the food untouched and ignored. There's an impressive vein pulsing on Sanji's forehead, and he grits his teeth so hard the muscles on his jaw are prominent. Nami's afraid he might slice his cigarette in half.

She thinks, only for a moment, that Zoro might be doing this just to mess with Sanji. It wouldn't be surprising, and it wouldn't be the first time Zoro did something consecutively just to piss off the cook. But then Nami remembers how Zoro kept leaving the table with his plate half empty in favor of sleeping, and she remembers Robin's attentive stare, and she knows it's not that. _Something's up with that idiot,_ she realizes, then glances at Robin. _That's definitely what she's thinking, too._

Sanji's patience runs out. "Luffy –"

"I'm going, I'm going." Her captain sighs and slides off his seat unenthusiastically, dragging his feet out the door as if he were about to do a very unappealing chore.

"That bastard," Sanji mutters heatedly when Luffy closes the door behind him, and Nami knows he's not talking about their captain. His fists are clenched tightly. "If he's doing this on purpose, I swear to _God_ I'm throwing his swords overboard, and then I'm going to kick him so hard he _will_ have a goddamn brain injury."

He creates such a thick tension with his words that Usopp squirms. "He's just sleeping, Sanji. You know how he is, heh. It's not _that_ big of a deal . . ."

"I don't give a shit about his sleeping – that shithead isn't eating my food! Who the hell does he think he is, wasting it like that? This is a new level of stupidity, even for him."

"I mean, he's not _technically_ wasting it . . ." Sanji shoots him a hard glare and Usopp promptly swallows the rest of his words. He pulls out his cigarette and practically smacks it on the side of the ashtray, muttering expletives.

Robin cradles her chin in her palm, her elbow near Nami's. She doesn't seem to be listening to the others, her attention monopolized by her thoughts. _She knows something,_ Nami thinks. _Or, at least, she thinks she knows something, which means_ something _is happening, or about to happen._

The ship sways thickly, the water in their glasses moving with it. A few more minutes of Usopp anxiously tapping his foot and Sanji drumming his fingers against the table and Chopper fiddling with his napkin pass before Luffy returns.

He takes back his seat besides Usopp and grabs a utensil in each hand, his eyes roaming the table as if considering which plate to start with first when everyone knows he's going to just shove everything in his mouth at once.

"Hold it," Nami says. "Where's Zoro?"

"Hm?" Luffy wipes the drool from his chin. "He's sleeping," he says as if it were obvious.

Nami's glad to see that the others are also looking at their captain just as sardonically. "We sent you to go _wake him up."_

Luffy huffs. "I did! He said he wasn't hungry and he wanted to sleep some more and said I can have his plate."

"He said _what?"_ Sanji spits.

"I swear he said I could, Sanji!" Luffy protests immediately. "He said I can eat his share and said it was fine because its not wasting if I eat it –"

"Not that, you idiot," Sanji cuts in. "He said he wasn't _hungry_?"

Luffy nods. The vein returns on Sanji's head and Nami's grateful that he doesn't have a cigarette between his teeth because she's sure he would have accidently swallowed it at this point.

"How the _fuck_ is that shitty bastard not hungry? He's barely even eaten his other goddamn meals! What the fuck is he playing at?"

"I don't know!" Luffy moans. "Can I eat now?"

"No." Sanji points to the galley door. "Go back and tell that shitty fucker to get his goddamn ass in here so he can eat his fucking food!"

Nami winces. Sanji is only _truly_ angry when the majority of his sentence is expletives. She sees Usopp edge away from the simmering cook _._

"But I wanna eaaaaaaaat already," Luffy moans. His hands fist around the fork and knife and he bangs them against table like a petulant child. "No more talking! It's dinnertime and I'm gonna eat. If you want Zoro to wake up so badly then _you_ go and get him."

Three voices protest that suggestion _immediately,_ so loudly that Sanji – _thankfully –_ isn't able to respond. _Hell,_ the last thing they need is for their cook to blow a fuse, or at the very least tear his hair from his scalp.

"If it's that's imperative, I can go and wake him on your behalf, Captain-san," Robin offers gently.

Luffy grins. "Okay!"

"NO!" Those same three voices scream once more, this time joined by Sanji.

Robin tilts her head. "Oh?"

"Ah," Usopp clears his throat, regaining his composure. "Sorry, Robin. Not that we don't trust you or anything, no, no. It's just that . . . Zoro can be a _little_ . . . er . . . "

". . . Violent," Chopper offers, at the same time Sanji mutters, "Batshit _crazy_ –".

" . . . Yeah," the sniper continues. "Uh, he's kind of, uh, _angry_ when you try to wake him up. It's like trying to grab a sleeping cat. A sleeping cat with three swords. That's why we send Luffy; he's the only one who can wake him without getting his head chopped off."

"Without lack of trying," Nami mumbles.

"Interesting," Robin smiles. _Not really,_ Nami thinks. _It's amazing how Robin never jumped ship and hightailed it out of here at this point. This ship full of freaks, myself not included obviously._

"And _that's_ why our shitty captain needs to get his ass up and _go_ ," Sanji concludes.

"I did already! It's someone else's turn now."

"It's _your_ turn. He's _your_ shitty swordsman."

"Well, _you're_ the chef, so I say it's your turn."

 _This is getting us nowhere,_ Nami thinks. "Why don't we leave a plate for him on the side, Sanji-kun? This way, when he _does_ wake up, he can eat it later and it wouldn't be a waste."

"That's a wonderful idea, Nami-san!" Sanji swoons, but she can see the small twinkle of hesitation in his eyes.

Luffy looks dejected. "But Zoro said _I_ could have his plate."

The twinkle is gone. "Too fucking bad. Eat your own share, you bottomless stomach."

"Sanji's mean!"

He ignores that. Nami nods to herself, satisfied that the squabbling is over. _I swear these idiots can't survive without me._ She just wants to get through _one_ meal, one freakin' meal without any fighting, screaming, or crying.

It looks like she might get her wish; Sanji and Luffy fall back to their seats, Luffy with a victorious grin, Sanji with a resigned frown. Their fights have always had a short life-span, unlike Sanji's and Zoro's, and they almost always forget about it instantaneous.

She _thinks_ she might get her wish, but to her horror, it's _Robin_ of all people who opens the discussion and the silence that Nami was basking in breaks apart like glass.

"You don't find his behavior odd?" Robin asks, and Nami tries her absolute hardest hold her face in her hands and scream.

"Who, Sanji?" Chopper asks.

"She's talking about Zoro." Nami says, then turns to Robin. "And no, it's the exact opposite. Zoro sleeps all the time, it's normal."

"I bet he'll be reincarnated as a sloth in his next life," Usopp snickers.

Nami nods, not in agreement with that lame joke, but to reaffirm Usopp's reaffirmation of her words. _Robin's still a new member, sort of, so she's not used to some of the crew's weird habits._

"I see," Robin eyes glance to her right, to Sanji, and Nami bites her lip because clearly the other woman is not convinced. "And his lack of appetite?"

Sanji snorts. "He's not lacking an appetite; that bastard's just being his normal, annoying, dumbass self."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

That's not the answer Robin is looking for, and at this point Nami is really curious about what it is. Robin's attention now shifts to Chopper. "Do you suppose he might be sick, Doctor-san?"

 _Oh, is that it?_ Nami frowns at the question, as if it were directed at her. Zoro . . . sick? The two words sound odd next to each other. Almost unnatural. Is _that_ what Robin was thinking about this whole time? Nami slouches at the anticlimactic reveal of it all. _That's so random._

Chopper's head rises at being addressed. "Huh? Sick? Zoro?"

"Do you suppose his odd behavior can be attributed to some sort of illness?" Robin reiterates, watching Chopper's reaction with acute interest.

"Ummm. Maybe. I mean, increased fatigue and exhaustion are common symptoms to lots of sicknesses, but Zoro's always sleeping. And he usually skips meals when he sleeps in or when he trains too long, though he hasn't been training as much lately because of the smoke outside . . ."

"See. There you go," Usopp says. "He's sleeping 'cause he's making up for lost training time. Classic Zoro."

Robin is still looking at Chopper, and if Nami didn't know any better she'd say that the poor doctor was almost squirming at the intensity of her gaze.

"Maybe . . . Maybe I should check up on him . . ." Chopper trails off, looking to Luffy. The unspoken question for permission hangs in the air. Luffy looks unfazed by it all, attention solely on his rapidly diminishing plate of food. Nami doesn't even think he was listening to the conversation at hand.

But then Luffy shrugs. "If you want. I dunno. I'm not a doctor. He looked fine to me."

Chopper looks even more conflicted. He looks back at Robin, but her face betrays no answer. "I guess I can check up on him in the morning."

And _that's_ when the discussion formally ends. Nami feels anything but relieved, the opposite of what she expected herself to feel. Robin's worry has unconsciously transmitted itself onto Nami, and Nami wants to pull her hair out because now all she can think of is what if Zoro really is sick? How the hell would they treat him? Chopper had already said they were low on medical supplies, and the ship sure as hell doesn't look like it would be moving any time – no, no. Zoro's not sick. _What's that saying? Idiots don't catch colds, yeah._

Nami locks eyes with Robin. Were those the same thoughts that were running through her mind, bothering and pestering her? It must be. Why else would she even bring it up if she didn't think it was something crucial. _God dammit, Zoro,_ she thinks. _You better not be sick._

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fin


	5. v

_v._

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Nami dreams of thunderstorms.

She's on a boat, all by herself. A flimsy boat, small and wooden and narrow. There's barely enough room in it for her to stretch her legs.

There's land in the horizon. She can see it clearly in the darkness. Nami tries to paddle the boat over to it. The seas are rough; the waves beneath her are determined to throw her off. Rain is coming down on her like shattered glass.

Then thunder sounds. There's no lightning, just the loud _BANG_ of the thunder clapping. The ocean seems to shake with the sound. Nami holds on to the edge of her pathetic boat, trying not to fall off. Land is close, and if she can just get there she can escape the storm and be safe.

 _BANG,_ the water vibrates. A large wave hits her in the face, drenches her body. Nami keeps paddling.

 _BANG –_ the thunder barks. The world shakes now. Nami grits her teeth, paddling, but she doesn't seem to be getting any closer to land.

 _BANG!_ She flinches harshly. The ocean picks her boat up. Nami crouches low, holding tightly.

 _BANG_ – the boat turns on its side, she's going to fall in, she's going to fall in, she's going to fall in, _BANG, BANG,_ _ **BANG**_ _–_

Nami's eyes open.

Her heart is beating loudly, quickly. She's in her room, in her bed, in the _Merry._ It's morning. Weak light spills into the room. The ocean is calm, patient, barely even rocking the boat. Nami slows her breathes, closing her eyes . . . _What a stupid dream._

When she opens her eyes again, she is relaxed. She forgets what the dream was about. She turns her head, looking around. Robin is also here. She's sitting on the lounge seat, hunched over, her back to Nami. _Right,_ Nami recalls. _I had first watch, so it's Robin's turn now –_

Robin coughs, the sound crisp, like a clap of thunder. Nami's eyes narrow. She doesn't move though, just watches Robin's back carefully. Then the archeologist coughs again, her shoulders tightening, back arching a bit, then another wet cough, a ragged cough, coughing, coughing, coughing too much, _is she even breathing –_

Nami throws the covers off of her and runs to Robin's side, patting her back softly then harder when the coughing doesn't stop. She's starting get extremely worried until the coughing fit finally subsidizes and the room is silent.

"Robin?"

She looks over the other woman's shoulder, sees that she's hunched over a wastebasket. Nami has the unfortunate pleasure of peering inside the wastebasket.

"Oh, hell."

Robin pants softly. Her eyes are tired, watery. She has a napkin pressed to her mouth. "I'm sorry for waking you, Navigator-san." Her voice is haggard, harsh. She folds the napkin slowly. There's a slight tremor in her hands. "I tried to be quiet."

"This isn't something you need to keep quiet." Nami hisses. Fear is creeping up from her legs. "Goddammit. I knew something was wrong with you. I just knew it."

"Yes. It would appear so."

"Why didn't you _say_ anything?"

Robin sits back, tosses the napkin into the basket. She closes her eyes. "It wasn't this bad, at first, for me to bring it up."

"But I asked you," Nami says, and she's well aware of how childish her voice sounds. Her hands tighten around Robin's shoulders. "I asked you yesterday, and you lied to me. You lied straight to my face."

"No." Robin turns in her seat, so she's facing Nami. Her face is pale, but her eyes brim. "I didn't lie. What I told you was the truth; this is also the truth, but I chose to withhold it."

"Which is still lying."

"I disagree."

"I don't _care_. I asked you a direct question and you knew what answer I was looking for and you didn't tell me it." Her voice hardens. "It might not be lying to you but I _feel_ like I was lied to, Robin."

"Then I apologize for making you feel that way." She sounds sincere enough. "That was never my intention."

 _Then what was your intention?_ Nami wants to ask, but she decides against it. It's too early to be picking a fight, much less with Robin. _She must have brought up that whole nonsense with Zoro just so everyone wouldn't be focused on her._ Whatever. The truth is out now. Better to deal with it now then to mull it over. She'll find time for that later.

Nami stands up. "Let's go find Chopper."

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It's doesn't take them long to find the little doctor.

Nami very nearly drags Robin into the galley. Nearly, because it isn't hard to pull along the other woman, which makes Nami think that Robin is allowing herself to be manhandled.

"Chopper," she calls. The reindeer is sitting on the counter, chatting with Sanji who is sharpening a wide knife. They both look at her. "Robin is sick. Can you look at her?"

The knife falls dramatically from Sanji's hand and Nami tries not to roll her eyes. "S-Sick?" Chopper hops off the counter while Sanji puts his hand on his heart. "No! Not my Robin-chan! Anyone but her! Oh, God, _why?_ Why is the world so cruel to beautiful women!"

Chopper motions her to sit on the chair while he clambers on to the table. Sanji is saying something about whipping up a soup so delicious that it will without fail cure her. Nami stands besides Robin, her arms folded.

"Sick how?" Chopper asks, rummaging through his pockets.

"She was–"

"Smoke inhalation, Doctor-san," Robin answers instead. "I have a recurring headache, my eyes are irritated, I've been having incessant coughing spells since last night, and just a few moments ago I was nauseous to the point of vomiting."

Nami frowns at how easily those honest words flow out of her mouth. _So now she decides to tell the truth?_ No. Nami mentally shakes her head. _She's doing it again, deflecting by giving only half the truth. She's still hiding something._

"Oh no." Whatever he was reaching for in his pocket (a thermometer, Nami guesses) is abandoned. Chopper moves closer, puts a hoof on Robin's wrist to feel her pulse. "That's no good. If the smoke can cause this much damage while we're inside, then –

Robin puts a hand over Chopper's hoof. "You misunderstand. This happened because I went outside; multiple times, in fact."

"What!?" Chopper exclaims. He stares for a long time, trying to digest the information. Even Sanji pauses from his spot in the kitchen. He glances at Nami, and a look is shared, the same look she shared with Usopp moments ago. Chopper searches Robin's face. " . . . You went outside?"

"Yes."

Poor Chopper looks absolutely lost. "But- But _why_? You knew about the damage the smoke could do if you stayed outside for too long- we _talked_ about this! Why would you still go outside knowing that?"

"Will knowing the reason change anything?"

 _Yes, yes it will!_ Nami shouts in her mind. _Stop hiding things from us and just tell us!_ But those thoughts don't leave her head. What's the point of a hostile confrontation now? It would only create more tension on the ship. They need to deal with one crisis at a time. The crew shouldn't indulge Nami's hurt feelings by all turning against Robin. _Wow, harsh,_ Nami chastises herself.

Chopper thinks about it, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "I guess not . . . but still! It's just . . ." Big watery eyes look up, betrayal swimming inside them. "You're the last person I expected to not listen to me . . ."

Even Robin can't face Chopper like that with a stone cold face. "I'm sorry, Doctor-san. Although it couldn't be helped, your counsel is invaluable, and I should have never gone against it. I know you'll do a marvelous job of helping me recover."

"D-Don't," Chopper sniffs loudly. "Don't think 'cause you complimented me I'll be any less mad, a-asshole!" He wipes his eyes. "Just don't do it again. You're supposed be one of the good ones."

Nami sees it; a twitch in Robin's mouth. Was that a smile or a frown? Her eyes are even more conflicted. _It's guilt,_ Nami realizes. _That's guilt_. Robin says, "I won't do it again."

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A few practical examinations later and Chopper leaves to retrieve some supplies. Sanji comes by and places a single steaming cup on the table where Chopper had been sitting.

"Chamomile tea to help soothe your stomach, Robin-chan? I've also added a drop of honey and a dash of peppermint to ease the nausea and get you back to your wonderful self as quickly as possible!"

Robin holds the cup, takes a small sip, then smiles. "It's lovely. Thank you, Cook-san."

Sanji does an intricate bow, that goofy smile plastered on his face. "You're ever so welcome! Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you a light snack, so you can enjoy the tea better?"

Robin pauses, the cup an inch from her mouth. She mulls over Sanji's question. "I am hungry, but I think I would rather wait until breakfast to enjoy the food with everyone else."

Sanji swoons. "So generous! We don't deserve you!"

Nami is still standing by Robin's shoulder, watching her every move, listening to every decibel. Sanji notices this but doesn't say anything. He's caught on, though, Nami can tell. _He also knows something's up with Robin._

With his gallantries out of the way, he sobers up. He takes a seat on the bench, asks Robin gently, "How are you feeling? Honestly."

"I'm alright. Just a bit lightheaded, though I'm sure some food will help remedy that."

Sanji smiles. "Of course! Good food can cure almost everything!" He pulls out a cigarette from his breast pocket. "But I actually meant the question in a more . . . emotional capacity, y'know?"

Robin cocks her head. "Oh?" She gives the question some thought. "Emotionally, I am content."

"Content," he repeats. He blows out a thin stream of smoke. "Robin-chan, I hope I'm not overstepping, but if something is bothering you, you know you can always tell us, right?"

"Yes, I know."

"And you know we'll do anything we can to help you, right?"

"Of course." She takes a sip of her tea. "I understand that faultlessly."

Sanji seems to have hit a roadblock. Robin isn't yielding. He looks at Nami for help, so she sits down on Robin's other side and says, "Well, you're not acting like you know that. You're acting like you're hiding something from us."

Blunt, straight to the point. That's how Robin usually operates, so Nami will operate like that, too. Robin smiles. "I'm not hiding anything. You can't very much hide something that is in plain sight, now can you?"

 _Is that a riddle? Did she just go all ambiguous on us?_ Sanji says, "Ah, well. What we're trying to say is you should have at least told us you were sick when you first started feeling it. Chopper could have helped you so you wouldn't have to feel so awful now."

"I don't mind."

Nami's eyes narrow. "You don't mind feeling like shit, or you don't mind making us worry? Are you suddenly a masochist? Is that what you don't want to tell us? What the hell, Robin."

Her tone is harsh, sharp. She didn't mean for that, but she doesn't regret it. There's a stiff silence in the room. _There's that tension I didn't want to start._ Sanji is looking at her oddly. Nami doesn't care. She keeps her eyes locked on the other woman.

Robin sets her cup down. It hits the table with a soft _tap._ ". . . No," she finally says. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive." She laces her fingers together around the cup, looking down at its contents. "I merely meant that I've been in more painful situations before, and in comparison, this was nothing, therefore I didn't mind it. I failed to communicate that. I'm sorry. I know I've worried you all. I apologize."

"Yeah, well, _we_ mind it," Nami says after a beat. Sanji nods from across the table. "We don't like seeing our nakama hurt when we know there's something we can do to help."

"Neither do I." Robin says quietly. For some inexplicable reason, a shiver runs down Nami's spine.

Sanji says, "So next time you'll tell us when you're feeling out of sorts?"

Robin nods. "Of course. I understand that now."

"And," Nami cuts in. "You'll tell us the _whole_ truth, not just half the truth so we can stop asking about it. You shouldn't be hiding things from us, Robin."

Another smile. "Certainly. The moment I know the truth, I will let you know immediately. I would never give you false information. Anything I assert should always have merit behind it."

 _Wait, what? That's not what I asked . . . was it?_ Nami feels a headache coming. _I feel like I just had the most one-sided conversation of my life._ She thinks. _Either that, or Robin and I were talking about two entirely different things._

The timer on the oven _dings!_ loudly, making Nami jump.

Sanji abruptly stands up. "My muffins are ready!" He strides over to the kitchen area. "Oh, you're going to absolutely _love_ these! I call these muffins the _Berry Delights!_ They're filled with an assortment of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, toped with a lightly glazed…"

He opens the oven, the aroma filling the air like a melody. It's soothing, like a warm bath. She feels all her senses flare. _Oh man, I forgot how hungry I was._

Then the door bursts open and a drooling Luffy barrels through. "Breakfast!" He hollers with glee. "Breakfast time, breakfast time, breakfast TIME!"

"Shut up!" Sanji snaps. "The food needs to cool down. Go sit and be quiet!"

Luffy's attention is laser focused on the trey of muffins that he doesn't acknowledge Sanji. Naturally, their ever patient cook remedies that by kicking their captain square in the face and across the room.

Usopp follows Luffy inside. "Mmmm!" His eyes are shining. "Morning, guys. That smells SO good, Sanji! You've really outdone yourself, if I do say so myself – _whoa_. Wait. Hold up." He freezes in the middle of the room. He extends his hands, grasping at the air all sage like. "The aura here feels off." He looks at Robin and Nami. "Were you guys having a war meeting or something?"

"Relax. We were just talking," Nami scowls. She props her elbow on the table, holding her chin. "Robin's sick from the smoke. We're waiting for Chopper to come back with medicine."

"Sick?" Usopp repeats. His eyes jump from Robin to Nami, then his eyes widen in realization. "Oh. Ohhhhh, OK. Yeah, that makes sense, actually."

Luffy flings himself on to the seat besides Nami. His hat is tied around his neck, and he's wearing his shirt inside out. Nami realizes that her captain had clearly been awoken by the smell of the food and rushed out of bed as quickly as possible. _I'm so embarrassed._

Luffy asks, "Huh? What makes sense? The muffins?"

Usopp sits on Luffy's other side, arms crossed, trying to make himself appear enlightened. "No, no. Why Robin's been acting all weird and stuff. My observations, as usual, we correct."

"Robin's acting weird? Why?"

"Cause she's sick."

Luffy's brow dips, slowly. He takes in the words with a frown. Nami doesn't like that frown. "Robin's sick?"

Usopp bristles. "Yes, you moron! That's what we were just talking about! Pay attention!"

His frown gets more defined. Usopp's teasing doesn't resonate with him. He looks at Robin thoughtfully, seriously. Probably trying to search for any signs of sickness. He won't find any, though. Robin hides it very well. "How'd you get sick?"

Robin answers, "From being outside for too long."

Luffy cradles his chin. "Really? Huh. But me and Usopp go outside all the time to play and we never got sick –"

Usopp slaps a hand over Luffy's mouth quickly. "Now, now, Captain! Hehehe, let's not go sprouting lies just to fit in! What he _meant_ to say is that we go outside to _briefly_ check on the air quality. _Right?"_

Luffy nods quickly. When Usopp's hand is removed, he asks, "Are you hurting?"

She smiles. "No."

"Is it a bad sickness? Are you super, _super_ sick? Are your eyes going to melt off?"

"She'll be fine," Chopper says. He walks back into the galley, his medical backpack slung over his shoulder. He takes a seat besides Robin while Sanji goes about setting the table. Chopper's mood seems to have lifted, which is good. The atmosphere in the dining area has brightened considerably, and Nami finds herself basking in it.

Chopper pulls out a bottle of pills. They rattle when he sets them on the table. He continues, "Luckily, you're only showing the early signs of excessive smoke inhalation. It would have been much worse if you were exposed any longer. You would have been coughing up blood, or passing out completely."

In the background, Nami can hear Usopp ask, "Where the hell did you hear of a sickness that makes people's _eyes_ melt off?" and Luffy vehemently defend, "It exists! It's real!"

Chopper spills two pills into his hoof. "Because of our current, ah, _situation,_ antibiotics are all I can give you. Once we get moving again, we'll find a place that has oxygen masks so we can let you breath come clean air and clear your airways."

"That's good," Robin says. "So then, intubation wont be necessary?"

Chopper shakes his head. "You're not showing any signs on respiratory distress, so I don't think you need it. Of course, that's only if you stay clear of the smoke. Breathing any more of it will _definitely_ make it worse for you. So make sure you stay inside and take two pills, twice a day."

Robin nods. Across the table, Luffy is snickering. "Oooh, Robin has to take _medicine_ ," he sings childishly.

Chopper crosses his arms. "Taking medicine isn't a punishment, Luffy."

"Then why does it always taste bad? Huh?"

Usopp whistles. "Ooh, he's got you there, Chopper."

"It tastes how it tastes because it's full of ingredients that help you feel better!"

"Food helps me feel better and it tastes good."

Usopp snaps his fingers. "Checkmate, doctor."

Chopper glares. "You shouldn't be saying anything, because if I catch you two playing outside one more time then I'll be prescribing medicine to you, too!"

Usopp swallows whatever he was going to say next while Luffy snickers again, pointing at Usopp. "Hehehehe, you got in trouble!"

"He's talking to you, too, idiot!"

Luffy shrugs, either not listening or not caring. He asks Chopper, "So Robin's gonna be OK?"

The little doctor sighs and sits back down in his seat. "Yes, as long as she stays inside and takes the medicine, she'll be fine."

"It won't get bad?" His eyes dart quickly to Nami, and she understands. _He's thinking about what happened to me in Drum Island,_ she thinks, remembering that awful moment of being cold and hot at the same time, of her limbs aching and her head throbbing and her insides shuddering. _He's worried the same thing is going to happen to her._

But Chopper smiles and tells him, "It won't. I'll make sure of it."

And the worry is dissipated. "Cool! Then can we eat now? Sanji? Can I eat? I want that big muffin right there. No one better touch it. It's mine. Can I eat it now? Sanji?"

"Would you calm down?" Sanji snaps. He reaches behind him and unties his apron. "You can eat after you go wake up your stupid ass swordsman."

"Don't get your panties in a twist, I'm here."

Nami's eyebrows rise. Zoro walks through the galley door with a hand rubbing his neck, his mouth gaping in a large yawn. Like Luffy, he looks like the only reason he got out of bed at all was for food. _At least he put some effort into getting dressed._

Like a scolding housewife, Sanji puts his hands on his hips. "Well _look_ who's decided to grace us with his presence!"

"I'll grace you with a sword up your–"

"Don't start!" Nami snaps, pointing her finger at Zoro, then at Sanji. "It's too early. Let's just eat first, OK? You can do whatever you want after."

Zoro snorts and plops down in his seat, compared to Sanji who salutes her and swirls into his seat. Nami nods, satisfied. _This is good,_ she thinks, and not just of the food. Everything is settling back to normal. Everyone is eating at the table, together. Robin is going to get better. Tomorrow, the log pose should reset and they can get moving. Everything's going to be OK.

 _Everything's going to be OK,_ she pleads to herself.

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 _end of part i_


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